Once done this Hilus will be my daily ride so it needs to be reliable. At this stage i am thinking seriously about fitting a 1UZ but my mind is still investigating and pondering the thought and work involved.

I bought the vehicle knowing that the gearbox is buggered and that the engine may be blown, confirmed once I got it started at the yard

This bakkie looks good from far but far from good, as stated before "a good base to work from".

Can i suggest that if you're looking for a lexus v8, to go for the vvti with original ECU to keep things reliable and running as they should, also large gains can be had over the non vvti v8 with fuel economy. Google v8 solid, or lextreme.co.za, you can pick up a unit complete with gearbox controller and all the other stuff, lambda sensors, air flow sensor and all the wiring in a nice neat bundle to a water proof fusebox for R18500. It also comes with obd 2 plugs and a flash diagnostic for on the go info.

Marius, consider enlarging that drainage hole. Also maybe remove the bottom lip. If you can stop leaves and all manner of rubbish collecting in there and having the water drain completely you will never have rust issues again in that area.

I have been checking it from all angles there, metal fatigue is part of the problem and is caused by that drain hole not supporting the motion coming from the front cab mounting. Increasing the hole size will increase the flexing in that part. The way we have smoothed it out will ensure no water remains standing there. We also filled all the crevices and cracks with sikaflex. I was thinking about fitting a gause below the vent grid to prevent leaves from falling in. Good suggestion, thanks

The gauze is a good idea, some vehicle have it as standard and it certainly does help, but personally I think that the finer dirt that gets in there is just as much to blame if it's allowed to accumulate - it retains moisture. Ideally there should be no grooves, hollows / depressions, cracks or crevices where it can begin to accumulate.

When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!

Knuppel wrote:Work comes first so progress accordingly
The bottom of the cab is done now, will focus on some surface rust on the chassis.
Then the cab will go back to the chassis. Still have to go buy a Lexus.

What colour to paint this little beasty, white it will not be.

I like that khaki colour very much

“A BAD DAYS FISHING IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAYS WORK”

“Do what you do so well, that the people that see you do it, will want to see you do it again,and will bring others to see you do it”

Reinhart, will be using the original one intended for the engine, OEM!
I don't want to spend the next three years tuning, and tuning and tuning.................
Plug and play as far as possible. Even going to get the OEM Shifter.

Will be fitting 1UZ vvti with auto box
Going to use OEM shifter so that ALL the electronics will be OEM.
Adaptor for 1UZ Autobox to Hilux T/box is being manufactured( Two week lead time)
When all the goodies are ready I will go collect in PTA.

All paint has arrived but still busy preparing the body

Chassis completed.

The paint is amazing, depending on the angle to the sun it changes colour.